In the media: Thomas Homer-Dixon on the potential collapse of Western civilization

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Historically, civilizations collapse for a plethora of factors. In a recent story, BBC Future asked: "What are they, and which, if any, have already begun to surface?" One of the experts they consulted to answer the question was Balsillie School of International Affairs and the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development professor, Thomas Homer-Dixon. Homer Dixon told BBC civilization is entering a "danger zone" where combined forces act like "tectonic stresses", quietly building up and then exploding, causing mass instability. He said the 2008 economic crisis, the rise of ISIS, Brexit, and Donald Trump’s election are all examples of what experts all "nonlinearities." Read the full article.